Vermilion 1913

This watercolor, "Vermilion", by Franz Marc, is a dreamy scene, thick with atmosphere, painted on what looks like a postcard. The script in vermilion at the top is so arresting, it is like we are looking at a personal message. It obscures a shadowy landscape inhabited by two animals. One in rust, the other in blue. Marc is playing with our perception, the animals aren't just red and blue, they are “vermilion” and “blue”, invoking a sense of the symbolic potential of color, like he is speaking to the soul. The texture is alive with the flow of the paint, like it was made in one breath. Look closely at how the black bleeds into the green of the landscape, creating depth and mystery. It's like the painting is not just an image, but an ongoing process of discovery. I can see traces of Kandinsky here; they were part of the same artistic circles, both drawn to the expressive potential of abstraction.